D3271: Integrating entomology education into introductory biology classes: The insect fact of the week

Introductory college biology labs are often inflexible in terms of the content that is delivered in the course. As such, instructors may feel they do not have space to teach topics other than what is written in the syllabus. Given ongoing insect declines, it is important that more people are aware of the importance of insects. Freshmen biology students represent an important target audience for entomology messaging. Quick snippets of insect-information may be an effective strategy to introduce students to entomology, combat entomophobia, and more broadly encourage deeper student learning. While teaching introductory biology labs as a graduate teaching assistant, I developed a crash course in entomology delivered in weekly, one-to-two-minute mini-lectures throughout the semester called ‘The Insect Fact of the Week’. The Insect Fact of the Week was designed to demonstrate to students the taxonomic and ecological diversity of insects, unique facets of insect biology, and culminated in a discussion of insect conservation in the face of recently observed insect declines. Observationally, many students were engaged with and enjoyed this course-within-a-course. Student surveys of the course at the end of the semester frequently included comments stating how they enjoyed the Insect Fact of the Week, and many students reported that it changed their perception of insects. This series of mini-lectures may be a straightforward and effective method to effectively disseminate insect science to college students without requiring them to take a specific entomology class.